Posted by Frank James at 10:45 am CST
Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa governor, is pulling out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, news to which many American voters will respond “Who?”
And that’s precisely the problem. Vilsack was getting very little traction, which means no buzz and not enough money.
He was even totally eclipsed in his own home state by the political equivalent of political black holes senators Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois who attract every camera in sight.
Vilsack’s exit leaves one of two Democratic candidates with gubernatorial experience in the race, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico being the other.That Vilsack is getting out of the race might help explain something odd he did earlier this week at the Democratic presidential candidates’ forum in Carson City, Nevada.
When it was his turn on stage he told a story of a precocious five-year old who asked him at a campaign stop if a thousand more troops in Iraq would make a difference. When Vilsack said no, the boy told him “I’m frightened every day,” and walked off.
And odd as that anecdote was, it wasn’t even the most weird part. I mean, what a strange thing for a kid to say. And where was the kid’s parents?
Anyway, then Vilsack segued into this:
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos had the same reaction I had. Presidential campaigns are about candidates explaining what they’re going to do, aren’t they?
“How do you end it?” Stephanopoulos said amid audience laughter.
So maybe Vilsack was sending a signal, turning the tables on the audience since he knew his days as a candidate were numbered.
Here’s the Associated Press story reporting on Vilsack’s decision.
